US STOCKS-Futures flat on rising U.S. yields, N. Korea worries

Reuters Staff

2 Min Read

* Futures up: Dow 0.07 pct, S&P 0.09 pct, Nasdaq 0.13 pct

By Medha Singh

May 16 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures were little changed on Wednesday as investors assessed the impact of a surge in bond yields, while growing doubts about the U.S.-North Korea summit also weighed.

North Korea threw next month’s summit between Kim Jong Un and President Donald Trump into doubt, threatening weeks of diplomatic progress by saying it may reconsider if Washington insists it unilaterally gives up its nuclear weapons.

A cancellation of the June 12 summit in Singapore adds to the jitters in the market, which is already dealing with China-U.S. trade tensions and inflation concerns.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Nasdaq recorded their biggest one-day percentage drop in three weeks on Tuesday after strong retail sales data stoked inflation concerns, sending the U.S. 10-year Treasury yield above the 3 percent level, its highest since July 2011. It was last at 3.0742 percent on Wednesday.

The latest report comes after markets took comfort from a recent string of data that pointed to softening inflation.

Reports on housing starts, industrial production and weekly jobless claims are all due later in the day.

At 7:19 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were up 17 points, or 0.07 percent. S&P 500 e-minis were up 2.5 points, or 0.09 percent and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 9.25 points, or 0.13 percent.

Among stocks, Micron rose 1.6 percent in premarket trading after RBC Capital Markets began coverage with “outperform” while AMD gained 1.8 percent after a rating upgrade at Susquehanna.